A book review blog that features historical fiction and cozy mysteries with a little bit of everything in between....

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Review: Murder at Marble House by Alyssa Maxwell

Description (from cover):

'With the dawn of the twentieth century on the horizon, the fortunes of the venerable Vanderbilt family still shine brightly in the glittering high society of Newport, Rhode Island. But when a potential scandal strikes, the Vanderbilts turn to cousin and society page reporter Emma Cross to solve a murder and a disappearance...

Responding to a frantic call on her newfangled telephone from her eighteen-year-old cousin, Consuelo Vanderbilt, Emma Cross arrives at the Marble House mansion and learns the cause of her distress--Consuelo's mother, Alva, is forcing her into a marriage with the Duke of Marlborough. Her mother has even called in a fortune teller to assure Consuelo of a happy future.

But the future is short-lived for the fortune teller, who is found dead by her crystal ball, strangled with a silk scarf. Standing above her is one of the Vanderbilts' maids, who is promptly taken into police custody. After the frenzy has died down, Consuelo is nowhere to be found. At Alva's request, Emma must employ her sleuthing skills to determine if the vanishing Vanderbilt has eloped with the beau of her choice--or if her disappearance may be directly connected to the murder...'

My thoughts:

If you haven't had the opportunity to read Murder at the Breakers yet, then I can't tell you how much you are missing out. This series has to be one of my newest favorite historical mysteries. Emma Cross' character is so entertaining and I love learning all about one of history's most glittering families, the Vanderbilts. I know the basic history, but reading it through Ms. Maxwell's creation is absolutely thrilling. The author does a fantastic job of blending history, mystery and romance in her novels and it makes them absolutely impossible to put them down.

I was asked to read this book by the author beofre the book release date and I am really glad that I was offered the chance. I really don't think that I could have waited until release day to read this one and once I started reading it, I knew that I was right. I actually had to sneak away at lunch and go read in private because I wanted to be alone to finish this book. That's one way to really tell if I like a book. I want to do nothing but spend time reading it, then it must be a good one. This book was as great as the first one and is simply to die for. Like I said, if you haven't discovered this series yet, then I simply encourage you to read it right away.

I love historical mysteries. I adore them. I read a lot of historical mysteries and sometimes a lot of the books published in the genre can get lost amongst the abundance of books. However, this book and this series really stand out as the writing is superb and engaging and every book ends with a cliffhanger that makes you want to get your hands on the next one immediately. There was a little teaser at the end of this one and I chose not to read it because I know that I cannot wait until Spring of 2015 to read it. Please do yourself a favor and preorder this one today. It will be released on September 30, 2014. Don't miss out on the chance to read a wonderful historical mystery book by a new author that is fresh and entertaining. I am sure we will be seeing a lot of this author in the future.

5 comments:

So jealous! I'm dying to read this. I can't wait to see Emma go to-to-toe with Alva. If I had a copy of the book in hand, I'd bus down to Newport to read it on the grounds of Marble House with the ocean breeze to cool me off.

Thank you, Kimberlee, for that wonderful review. And thank you for your comment, QN! If you'd like another "trip" to Newport, I just started reading A Sense of Entitlement, a new historical mystery by Anna Loan-Wilsey. She fictionalized a bit more than I did, but I can still tell exactly where her heroine is!

OMG! Alyssa Maxwell is one of my all time favorite authors and her next book comes out on my birthday too? I haven't been this excited about my birthday since I was a kid. Getting one year closer to 40 will be so worth it because I will finally be able to read this book.

I visited Marble House last weekend. You have to see it in real life to appreciate it. Alva was quite a character and I would be scared to go up against her but she did a lot to move women forward. Check out my blog post and photos at archiveslibrariesmuseums.wordpress.com

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About

I am a 29 year old bookworm and I'm proud of it. I have a love of historical fiction and cozy mysteries, but I will read a lot of different genres as well. I love to read and love to get recommendations on books. You will always find me with my nose in a book.